Sunday, April 5, 2009

An Honest Mistake

The day Georange arrived I went down to our local gas station to get some diesel (Henry took gasoline). They were out, so I drove to another station about 10km from here, parked the Red Menace and grabbed my gerry can from the back. As I stepped away from the truck the station attendant asked "you want marked?" to which I repled "yup" and he pointed to a pump set off to the side with a green handle (the colour of most diesel pumps in these parts).

I don't know whether this happens in the US, but marked diesel and gasoline are sold in Canada for use in tractors and other agricultural vehicles. The fuel is marked with a dye and several of the road-vehicle taxes are eliminated from the price. Anyone who fills a car or truck with marked fuel risks a hefty fine. I knew nothing about any of this before moving to Deroche.

Having filled my gerry can I walked into the store, habitually expecting them to have a computer showing how much I had pumped. Of course they didn't, so the attendant went outside to check to the volume and price for me. I paid, loaded up and drove home. Georange arrived later that afternoon with half a tank provided by the dealership. As I'm sure you've guessed, all of this culminated in David pouring 20L of marked gasoline into our brand new diesel tractor this afternoon. He realized the mistake as soon as Georange started to sound off, and our neighbors came over to help drain the fuel system. By the time I got home from my flyball tournament Georange was running smartly again, but David and I felt like dunces for not catching the mix-up sooner. We both have plenty of prior experience with diesel, but we obviously need a crash course in its identification.

On my way home I stopped at that gas station to check out the pumps. Sure enough, the one I used simply reads "MARKED" while another in the island grouping more explicitly reads "MARKED DIESEL". Although I love the charm of the old gas stations, it does make you appreciate the hand-holding clarity of the newer pumps.


5 comments:

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Whoops! So glad it didn't cause any damage before you were able to drain it all out.
I've never seen 'marked' gas at any gas stations around here. WOuld be nice if they had it, because we don't get any discounts.

~Lisa

word verification: 'bustid'

You got the wrong petrol! Bustid!
lol! Lame...I know.

Grey Horse Matters said...

We don't have any diesel around here labeled marked. What we do have at the farm is a diesel tank that the heating oil company fills with diesel. It makes it easier than having to run down to the gas station all the time, since we use it for the mule and tractor.

EvenSong said...

Our local farm co-op has "diesel" and "off road diesel". Our little New Holland is so efficient that I'll pick up two 5 gal. gas cans--excuse me--diesel cans (they're YELLOW to differentiate them from red GAS cans), put one in the tank ('cause I'm usually low, waiting for the first of the month) and have the other in reserve.

I thought about getting a 250 gallon tank when the prices came down (in anticipation of them going up again!) and for the convenience mentioned by GHM (who should check to make sure she paying for off-road, btw). But it just hurts less to buy it 10 gallons at a time.

Brandy said...

Yikes! I bet that caught hubby's attention when he started it up!

Hey, I saw this
http://www.likecool.com/The_Sealpelt--Accessories--Home.html

And thought of you! LOL!

A bit pricey, but warm and penguin-y!

--
quitabil - I can stop speaking faux French any time I want....

Funder said...

Is that *really* your current gas/diesel prices, or is that from last summer in California? I would have a heart attack.

Anyway, I've heard of farm or agricultural diesel. It's diesel only, as far as I know, and it's dyed. Buuuut the thing is, there's enforcement of the use of it. You have to have some kind of proof that you're some kind of farmer to buy the farm diesel, but then you can fill up your diesel dually and drive around the city all you want.

Very glad yall didn't kill Georange. Good quick thinking on David's part.